Pennies and Twenties
by mamaburnie
Summary: Every Sunday Cecil would clean while Carlos ran errands, it was just the pattern they had set. It was nice, comfortable and routine, something that put Cecil's mind at ease, until he comes across something in their shared sock drawer he's not too sure he was supposed to have seen. Or the one where Carlos is hiding something.


Hey everyone! I don't really know what to put here other than this is my best Cecilos piece, and yeah...

I have a few more coming, but this is seriously my pride and joy.

I hope you all like it!

It was routine for them, something they'd started the week they moved in together. It began with the whirlwinds of their previous habits coming together for a perfect storm, a storm containing the potent mixture of love, adoration and contentment.

Every Sunday Cecil would clean. He would dust and scrub and vacuum from dawn until dusk, humming and singing all the while. Carlos, in turn, would do any chores outside the home while his boyfriend cleaned. Shopping, picking up dry cleaning, just simply running errands, etc., it was all on Carlos' weekly list. On rare occasion the scientists would be home, he would eagerly help Cecil with whatever cleaning that he needed help with.

Most weeks, though, it was only the radio announcer left to clean. This week was one of those weeks.

_Text me when you're on your way home. I love you!_

Sending the hastily typed out text and pocketing his phone, Cecil went to work on their somewhat messy apartment. Starting in the kitchen, he scrubbed and mopped, he put away dishes and loaded the dishwasher. He hummed the previous days weather while he did so, smiling when he heard the Faceless Old Women hum along with him gently. She enjoyed cleaning days, often because she could help add her own personal touch to Cecil's cleaning, not that he minded.

After taking out the trash (which chewed at his sleeve all the while,) he moved into the living room. Vacuuming was what he hated most, but he tackled the dreaded chore with as much enthusiasm as he could muster (which is, well, a lot.)

Once he finished with that he dusted and moved to their shared bathroom, cleaning it in record time. He left a cute note on the mirror in expo marker for Carlos before going to do laundry, grinning while he did.

Moving on to the laundry, he groaned inwardly. Cecil hated folding laundry; he hated it for many reasons, but mostly because of how tedious of a process it was. The city council like laundry to be folded a certain way, and there were penalties if said folding code wasn't followed. Carlos had learned that lesson the hard way, but that's a story for another day.

Luckily it didn't take too long, so he moved on with that rather quickly, taking a stack of their clothes into their room when he was done.

Opening the top drawer in their shared dresser, Cecil began to stack their socks inside, separating them as best he could. As he moved to close it, a small twinkle in the right hand corner of the drawer caught his eye.

Something glimmered in the dimming afternoon light, poorly hidden behind several bundles of socks stacked upon one another. Curiously, Cecil brushed a few of the bundles out of the way, finding the source of the shimmer to be nothing more than a plain Mason jar.

He gently plucked it from its corner, doing his best not to disturb any of the socks piled atop one another as he did. It was bare of any additions, save for a taped on label that read "For personal reasons" in Carlos' distinct hand writing.

"Huh." Cecil grumbled, turning the jar over in his hands a couple times. The jar hadn't been there the previous week, to his knowledge at least.

Putting the container back in its place and piling the socks in front of it again, he closed the drawer, mumbling quizzically to himself while he did so.

"Carlos never mentioned putting that in there, did he? Maybe it's a secret."

_If it's a secret I really need to talk to him about hiding stuff better, in a non-shared area. _He thought, going back to putting the laundry up.

It was a question for another day, though.

"Need anything from the store while I'm out?" Carlos asked after pulling away from the brief kiss he had initiated. They were standing in front of their apartment door, a sleepy Cecil leaning against the door frame.

"No…" He mumbled, wishing they were still in bed; legs tangled together while they talked to one another in sleep filled voices.

Laughing lightly, Carlos pressed a soft kiss to Cecil's temple, wishing the exact same thing. They had things to do, though, and today was not a day they could afford to lose in bed.

"Alright, text me if you think of anything. I'll be back around two or three. I love you."

"I love you too." Cecil replied, the tiredness finally seeping from his voice. Standing on his tippy-toes, he pressed his lips to Carlos', sighing happily against him.

Soon enough Cecil was home alone, the weight of the day pressing on his shoulders. Luckily their apartment was still pretty clean and it was only the laundry that needed being done, so he drug about the day lazily.

It was when he was hanging up clothes that he remembered the jar in the sock drawer. He hadn't check it all week, so he decided to indulge himself and take a quick peek.

Hanging up the last of the clothes, he slowly made his way to the dresser, debating with himself on whether he should look or not.

It was none of his business, he argued with himself. But then again, it was in their _shared _sock drawer, so he had every right to look. It's not like he was betraying Carlos' by looking at a damn jar anyway.

His curiosity ended up winning the argument and he closed the distance between himself and the wooden dresser. Swiftly, Cecil pulled out the top drawer, peaking at Carlos' corner of it.

Sure enough, still horribly hidden in the back was the Mason jar, a few socks piled up in front of it.

Pushing the socks out of the way, he found that the jar was different from what it had been like the previous week. A few bills and coins were nestled in the bottom, ranging from pennies to twenties.

_Oh, it's savings! _Cecil thought, putting the socks against it once again. That made sense, the few banks Night Vale had weren't exactly trustworthy when it came to them handling money.

He closed the drawer and went back to the few chores he had, the jar staying in the very back of his mind, enough to keep his curiosity peaked, but not enough to make him worry. Maybe one day Carlos would share with him what he was saving up for, but really, he knew that was none of his business.

And if he did decide to share, well, that was all up to him.

In the months that followed, their schedule rarely faltered. Cecil would clean on Sunday's and Carlos would run errands, their way of life rarely shifting from their preset pattern.

Except, Cecil would always check the Mason jar in the back of the sock drawer on Sunday's. He just liked seeing how Carlos' savings were coming along; he wasn't stealing money or anything! The very thought of steal from his boyfriend made Cecil sick to his stomach, no, the thought of stealing from _anyone _made Cecil sick to his stomach.

Back to the point at hand, the money in the jar was coming along nicely. It was full only after six months of saving, stuffed to the brim with change and bills, nearly overflowing when Cecil checked it again.

The only problem was that the more money the jar had, the more it started to bug him. Again, none of his business, and Carlos' had every right not to share, but what if he was keeping something from Cecil? Did he not trust him enough with whatever information the jar held?

_You're overreacting, get ahold of yourself. _He chastised himself one Sunday afternoon, sitting on the bathroom sink as he waited for the floors to dry. Scrolling through his phone in hopes of a good distraction, Cecil grew frustrated as his mind kept going back to that dumb glass container. He had been putting off checking it today, due to the fact the more he saw it or thought about it the more nervous it made him.

Eventually, though, his pestering thoughts got the better of him.

"Fine, fine!" Cecil snapped at himself, "I'll go check the dumb jar."

Sliding off the sink, he tiptoed his way out of the bathroom, trying not to dirty the sparkling floors. He padded down the short hallway and into their room, his heart beginning to beat rapidly. Why did he suddenly have to be so nervous?

Worry began to chew at his stomach, getting worse with each step he took. What if… what if the money was gone? Like it had never been there in the first place?

Cecil was almost to the dresser when the thought stopped him, so he chose instead to sit on the bed and try and calm himself down. He wasn't due for his monthly panic attack yet, so he forced himself to get a grip.

_Seriously, why am I so nervous? It's just some crumpled up dollars and loose change._

The thought did little to ease his mind, so he decided to just rip the band aid off; it'd be easier and much less painful.

Getting up, Cecil forced himself to close the distance between the bed and the dresser. He gripped the slick silver knobs that were screwed into the polished wood, and slid the drawer out smoothly. The worry and nervousness prickled at his skin like thorns, tearing apart the last few strands of sanity he had.

This was wrong, something was wrong. He shouldn't feel like this, something was off.

Pushing the irritating thoughts away, his eyes traveled over to Carlos' corner and he move the sock bundles out of the way, shock filling him as he saw the jar to be…

Empty.

Relief filled him for a brief second until he saw that the jar was in fact, not empty.

Picking up the container, he saw two smooth silver bands resting in the bottom of the jar, clinking against the glass as they slid around at the bottom. Cecil pulled them out with slightly shaky hands, his breath short and his legs weak.

This... this wasn't what he thought, was it?

He found no note in the jar to accompany them, but something caught his eye as he shifted the rings in his palm. He held one of the bands and squinted, reading the engraving on the inside of it.

"_Follow your heart; it will always lead you home." _

"Cecil?"

He dropped the Mason jar when he heard Carlos' behind him, realization clouding his mind. How long had he been standing there? When did he get home?

Drawing in a sharp breathe, Cecil turned around, finding Carlos leaning against the door frame, nervousness etched across his features. He wore a red flannel shirt, the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, how he knew Cecil liked it. Funny, how he was observing all of these little features when there was a much bigger matters at hand.

Dropping the ring back into his palm, he took a step back, worry clouding over all other emotions. He opened his mouth to say something when Carlos spoke again.

"Will you marry me?"

His voiced wavered slightly, but overall he held is composure. Though, as the seconds ticked by his so called composure began to crumble. Cecil wasn't speaking; his was just staring, a purple blush spreading across his face.

The silence stretched between them; the quietness pulling the seconds so far apart it felt like they were ripping apart in the air. What was only a few seconds seemed like several life times to Carlos before Cecil bounded across the room, rings held tightly in his hand as he pulled Carlos into a soul crushing hug.

"Yes, yes, yes! Of course I'll marry you!" Cecil whispered as tears welled up in his eyes, smiling when he felt Carlos lean into him, the relief obvious in his body language.

Pulling him in closer, Carlos smiled into his boyfriends – no – _fiancés _shoulder. The mere thought of them getting married made his heart ache in the best way possible.

"I love you." He sighed, pulling away slight to look into Cecil's watering eyes. Gently, he wiped away a tear that managed to escape with the pad of his thumb, watching Cecil's smile grow as he did.

"I love you too." Cecil replied, breaking away from the hug reluctantly in order to get a better look at their rings.

Unclenching his hand between them, Cecil watched Carlos take each ring, glancing at the inside before taking the band that was meant for himself.

"The inside of your ring is different from the inside of mine," he stated "your ring says "heart" while mine says "head." The definition of what "home" is… well, you know." Carlos switched the rings that were in their hands, taking Cecil's left hand and slipping the band onto his ring finger.

Cecil, in turn, did the same to Carlos, beaming all the while. The silver bands felt cool against their skin, the slight weight they added tugging at each other's hearts. Their eyes met and their grins never broke, happiness blooming in the air between them. They untangled their hands from one another, Carlos positioning his on fiancé's hips, while Cecil' wrapped his arms around the taller man's neck.

Bending down slightly, Carlo's rested his forehead against the shorter mans, closing his eyes as he let the moment wash over them.

This was really happening; he was going to marry the love of his life.

And then it hit him. This was going to happen. They were going to get _married!_

"Oh my god," He breathed, "Cecil, we're getting married."

The only reply Carlos received was laugh, one filled with all of the emotions that pooled inside him, ranging from love to nervousness to excitement; it all rang out in the atmosphere around them. Soon he joined in Cecil's laughter, both of them sinking to the floor as tears of happiness slid down their cheeks.

Together they laid on the floor, sprawled out across and against each other, their laughter dying down into love filled quietness. Their hands met once again, fingers tangling together as they both stared at the ceiling. The seconds and hours blended together, stretching across time in a web of emotions neither of them quite understood. Carlos was the first to try and push through the web, saying only two simple words to do so.

"Carlos Palmer."

He heard Cecil cough next to him, as if he was suddenly unable to breath, the grip on his hand tightening immensely.

Cecil's embarrassment radiated around the room as he coughed out a strained "Carlos!," making the scientist laugh softly in turn. Carlos could see how shy and nervous his fiancé looked without even turning his head, imagining the purple blush that blotched across his adorable freckled face.

Letting go of his hand, Carlos stood up abruptly, grinning when he heard a muffled "oomphf!" as their limbs came untangled. He leaned down quickly, picking up a disoriented Cecil bridal style and dropping him on the bed a few seconds later with an unceremonious thud.

Carlos leaned over him, pressing their lips together in a kiss that made both of them go light headed, the blood pounding in their ears as they broke apart.

"Carlos Palmer." He repeated to Cecil through soft breaths, the corners of his lips quirked upward ever so slightly.

There was a short pause before Cecil pressed against him again, their mouths cemented together in a brief kiss, one that ended too soon for either's liking.

In a light voice he replied, "Carlos Palmer," back to him, smiling all the while.

The sock drawer remained open, the Mason jar rolled under the bed after (somehow) not breaking on the wooden floor, and the laundry lying across the covers was pushed off for more enjoyable tasks. In any other situations they would have already gotten themselves together but as of now…

Well, they had the rest of their lives for that.


End file.
